Watch this pianist turn hardstyle classics into surprisingly graceful music

“Beautiful” and “relaxing” are two words not typically associated with the hardstyle genre. Indeed, the very notion of the genre is to flout these musical traits – to incite its listeners into a frenzy with rapid rhythms driven by abrasive percussion. None of this, however, discouraged YouTuber “Hardstyle Pianist” from creating his “Beautiful & Relaxing Hardstyle Piano Mix.”

Lofty as the pianist’s self-imposed challenge is, he succeeds remarkably in his ability to invert hardstyle’s aggressive, frenetic paradigm. Over the course of an hour, Hardstyle Pianist converts 40 different hardstyle songs into purely piano renditions. Taking songs from the catalogue of leading hardstyle producers like Coone, Headhunterz, and Angerfist, the instrumentalist manages to expose how entrancing the melodies of the genre can be – something which hardstyle fans have known for years, but may likely surprise the rest of the world.

We encourage any readers who are generally turned off by the polarizing genre to let go of their preconceived notions and enjoy the beautiful piano stylings of Hardstyle Pianist in this video. Conversely, we encourage hardstyle devotees to experience the music of their genre in a vastly new context.